Monday, August 19, 2013

Salon Vim: New Hair Color + Arimino Privy Treatment!

It has been a really long time since my last visit to Salon Vim!

The last time I got my tresses managed and pampered was four months ago, in April! And I feel so guilty about it because I'm extremely privileged to have the luxury of getting my hair done monthly at the best salon in town, but I haven't been giving my hair TLC.. My hair has grown quite abit longer since my last visit, plus the colors have faded as well. Thought it was time I headed back to do something about the sorry state of my hair!

Anyway, it's the first time I've stepped into Salon Vim since their renovation! Everything looks so stylish and professional now!!

Hair buddy and partner-in-crime Evonne who went to Salon Vim together with me! Her hair is somewhat of a walking miracle, considering that she's gotten it bleached more than 10 over times in the past 15 months or so and it still looks so amazing!

As usual, I walked into Salon Vim without any concrete idea of what I wanted to do on my hair.. For the past one year or more, I've been addicted to pink hair, and have tried ten thousand variations of pink highlights.. Magenta pink, strawberry pink, pink blended with purple, dip-dyed pink, etc etc.

I really love pink and how it brightens up my look instantly, but after more than a year of pink hair, I wanted to be a lil more adventurous and try a new hair color, so after some discussion with Stephanie (my trusted hair stylist), we decided to venture into uncharted grounds!

Of course, as with any kind of candy hair colors, you need to bleach your hair prior to application of the hair dye!

Now, I'm deathly afraid of bleaching my hair, which is why I'd never go for a full head of crazy hair colors, but just that few streaks of bleached hair is fine by me, and a small price to pay for those pretty colors in my hair! And also because it's a sort of balayage effect (the color doesn't go all the way up to the root of my hair), it doesn't hurt my scalp either!

My new hair colors sitting in bowls and waiting to be applied onto my hair :D Not an accurate representation but you can sort of tell: it's gonna be a cocktail of violet purple, turquoise green and electric blue highlights!

I cannot emphasise more on how apprehensive I was. Going green and blue is something I've always been firmly adamant against because I used to think that these two colours looked terribly unnatural and ugly on hair! However, Stephanie suggested that I do a fusion of three tone highlights, with the purple, turquoise and blue streaks melding into a dark matte brown base, which I hesitantly agreed to.

Here's the colors being applied onto the bleached strands! In order to achieve brilliant candy tones, it is always necessary to bleach the hair first.

I've received queries from many readers, asking if bleaching is required for bright colours, and if it is damaging to the hair.. The answer is yes, it is required, and yes, it will always dry out the hair somewhat, for sure. The good news is, if you're just doing streaks like me, bleached hair can still be easy to maintain, you just need to give it a little more care at home with regular hair masks, and hair treatments at Salon Vim once in a while! :)

Waiting for the colors to set in... I also got the base color touched up to a slightly darker and more neutral matte brown because it had lightened to a yellowish brown, and my dark roots were very obvious!

Another word of advice lol.

If you're intending to get intensive works done on your hair (For instance, cut, color, highlight, treatment) do try to book an earlier slot because it does take quite a fair amount of time! I had to go back to Salon Vim on another day to get hair treatment done because there wasn't enough time, I had to rush off for another appointment on my first visit!

I've done the Arimino Privy Hair Treatment twice, and it's amazing! It's a new Japanese hair treatment, and leaves the hair feeling incredibly soft and nourished. Just what I need for my hair!

The Arimino Privy Hair Treatment consists of three steps, and I must say that it is one of the fastest treatments I've done! One of the salon assistants was placing the steaming machine thingy over my head and I went like "Huh? You put the treatment already meh?"

That's because the first step of the Arimino Privy treatment starts with the hair wash, with a special shampoo and hair moisturizer, before a serum and cream are gently massaged into the hair cuticles to complete the treatment! #noob

The end results? I don't know how Stephanie and the amazing team at Salon Vim do it, but I do feel that every time I step into the salon, I somehow leave with even more amazing hair than I did the last time! With the Arimino Privy treatment, my hair feels silky smooth and soft to the touch, and much less frizzy and brittle!

I am in love with my new hair colour! It's seriously stunning! A medley of blue, purple and turquoise highlights subtly blended into the ends of my hair. Reminds me of the vibrant hues of a peacock feather, or the tail of a fighting fish!

What I love most about the new hair is how artfully blended in the colors are, it makes the colors look so fabulously wearable! All the highlights are done on the inside layers of my hair, so they weave in and out, peeking out of the brown base beautifully.

A close-up on the vibrant hues.

My wonderful hair stylist Stephanie! She was just as pleased with the results as I was. Thank you Steph! ❤

A couple of pictures I took when I got back home! And I've received tons and tons of compliments on the new hair colour! Super love!

I have been recommending all my friends to Salon Vim ever since I've been with the salon, and now, nearly all my close friends go to Salon Vim for hair services as well! And many of them are repeat customers and have lots of raves about Salon Vim!

There's been some misconceptions that Salon Vim only does crazy hair colors (I believe this is all Evonne's fault) but that's not true, because they do an amazing job with just about everything, even if all you're looking for is a safe dark brown hair color or even just a hair cut! :) Even my sissy Gina swears by Salon Vim (Gary, the director)'s hair-cutting techniques. So guys and girls, don't be scared hehe. Go to Salon Vim!!

The fun part about getting crazy colors done, I feel like a chameleon because the candy hues fade a little every time I wash it, and now it's like a mixture of ash turquoise, baby blue, and lilac!

Took the above picture one week after the initial hair color was done, when I went back to Salon Vim for a wash and blow-dry. I adore the streaks of baby blue! Never thought I'd like blue in my hair but oh well, I take back my words now.

Got my hair braided at an event one week ago. Shows off the peacock hues so well!

Took this picture a couple days ago. Guess you can tell how much I luuuurve these colors. YZ's super smug about it too because he's been telling me to try blue/green hair colors for the longest time and I was so reluctant to, and now he's all like "See, I told you so!"

A couple more tips for colored hair: Remember to use shampoo especially for color-treated hair! This helps the color to last longer, as well as keep your hair looking healthy and radiant! Hair masks can be used regularly in lieu of conditioner, in order to replenish moisture in your hair more effectively.

I also use cool or lukewarm water instead of hot water to wash my hair because heat will strip the colour off faster, as well as remove moisture from your hair, causing your hair to turn brittle, dry and lifeless-looking.

Lastly, always use heat-protecting products if you style/blowdry your hair frequently! I use these two products (Bain Chroma Captive Colour Radiance Protecting Shampoo for Color-treated Hair and Nectar Thermique Nourishing Care with Heat-styling Protective Agent) from Kerastase and I love them! Available at Salon Vim too, so just ask your friendly hair stylist for product recommendations!

Hope this post was informative and useful! If you do have any queries, just drop me a comment below! ;) Have a smashing week!

Yina says hi

Welcome to my blog! My name is Yina Goh, and I own online boutique The Velvet Dolls. I'm passionate about travel, fashion, food, beauty and music. I love photography and taking photos to document my everyday!

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